


"Hey Aloth, does it bother you that the captain's..."

by ElfFromDenerim



Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: F/M, Flash Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-21
Updated: 2018-06-21
Packaged: 2019-05-26 16:35:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15004940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElfFromDenerim/pseuds/ElfFromDenerim
Summary: During downtime, Edér asks Aloth about his relationship with the captain; particularly why an Aedyran elf like him would go for a wild orlan savage like her. Things get worse when the captain walks in on their conversation.(Brief attempt at flash ficton. Some hurt/comfort elements?)





	"Hey Aloth, does it bother you that the captain's..."

Aloth and Edér were eating at an inn patio one night. The evening was fairly warm, and the ocean view rather nice. The other companions were seated at their own tables further down the veranda, and the captain had gone inside to scrub the loose orlan hair from her face before joining them.

“So… Aloth,” Edér said casually, “I understand you and the captain are…”

“What?” Aloth started, dropping his spoon. “I and the Captain are… what? Exactly?”

“Relax,” Edér smiled, “I already know.”

“Know?” Aloth squeaked, and then cleared his throat; ears pink. “How could you… That is, whatever gave you that impression…?”

Edér shrugged. “She already told me.”

Aloth’s ears drooped. He sighed, “And here I had hoped she would favor discretion…”

“Discretion? Now, that doesn’t sound like the Iselmyr I know.”

“ _Iselmyr_ told you?” Aloth gaped, and then sighed. He should have known.

“Of course. She was doing one of your funny impressions, and…” he chuckled, “The way she imitated how you felt the first time you saw the captain naked, I thought…”

Aloth’s ears and face turned deep red. “Now, see here! Just because I’ve seen her doesn’t mean… That is, it’s a perfectly natural reaction… After all the times we’ve bathed by the stream…”

“Hey, careful there. You look like you’re about to pop a blood vessel,” Edér said good-naturedly. “Best not die on my watch. Then what will I tell the captain?”

Aloth closed his eyes, let out a deep sigh, and forced himself to count to ten.

“Feel better?” 

“Marginally…” Aloth sighed, and then hastily thanked the serving girl for refilling his glass.

“So…” Edér said casually as the serving girl walked away. “You and the Captain, huh?”

“I don’t wish to discuss it,” Aloth said curtly, tucking his napkin back over his lap and returning to his food.

Iselmyr, whom he thought was slumbering, was laughing in his head.

“Look, I don’t mean to pry…”

‘Then don’t,’ he wanted to say, but felt something hold his tongue.

“I just… never thought I’d live to see it,” Edér said fondly, trailing off.

Against his better judgment, Aloth decided to bite. “What do you mean?”

Edér leaned back, and casually lit his pipe. After a few slow puffs, he ventured, “Well, I always figured there might be something there, from her end to yours. You always did bring a big old smile to her face, even if you didn’t know it…” he chuckled, “You shoulda seen the way she used to trail after you in the Dyrwood; always with that big old puppy smile, hoping you’d turn and notice her…”

“Is that right?” Aloth eyed Xoti sighing wistfully over Edér in the next table.

“Truth is, I never thought you’d go for someone like her…”

Aloth wanted to end the conversation there, but something in Edér’s tone that piqued his curiosity.

“What do you mean, ‘someone like her?’” 

“Well, you know. You two are just so… uh… different…”

Aloth knew this was coming. He sighed. “Yes, it has been something of an adjustment,” he confessed, “I like things a little more orderly than she does…” 

He thought of the few nights they spent together, when she got fur everywhere, left the bed sheets a rumbled mess, and left her clothes and armor lying everywhere. 

“I suppose it’s inevitable,” Aloth confessed, “given the differences in our upbringings, but even still…”

“Oh!” Edér said suddenly. “Yeah, I guess that’s true…”

Aloth's ears perked up. “Why? What do you mean?”

“Well… you know…” Edér leaned forward, and lowered his voice. “Don’t you ever worry about her being… you know…” 

He squeezed and unsqueezed an invisible grapefruit. 

Aloth’s ears turned bright pink. “I’m not sure I follow…”

The gesture made him involuntarily think of her short stature and scraggly figure; more womanly than he remembered in Dyrwood, but still not as full or supple as Edér’s invisible groping would imply. 

Still, he could not help but think of her warm smile and laughing eyes, how she held out her arms to beckon him as she sat upon the bed, inviting him over for a loving kiss and warm embrace. Private moments like that always tugged a brief smile from his face.

“Well, you know…” Edér said hesitantly. “With you being from Aedyr, I woulda thought you never would have gone for a wild orlan…”

Aloth’s ears turned red. “I hardly see what that’s got to do with it!”

Apart from the height difference, which was itself something of a bother, the only inconvenience he had to contend with was…

_“Oh, fye!”_ Iselmyr burst out, _“The worst he has ta worry aboot is getting hair in the mouth kissing her at both ends!”_

Edér burst out laughing, as did the others. Red-faced, Aloth shot out of his seat and curtly excused himself.

“Hey, come on!” Edér said, tears in his eyes, “I didn’t mean it like that.” 

As he rushed out he ran into the captain as she came bounding out the door, fresh-faced and grinning. “Sorry I’m late!” she exclaimed, “What’d I miss?”

“What I meant…” Edér said after the captain coaxed Aloth back into his seat, “Was I was just surprised an Aedyr noble would go for… you know…”

The captain’s face fell. “An orlan?”

Edér shrugged helplessly.

Aloth saw an expression he had never seen on his captain before. She looked genuinely hurt. “I don’t know what that has to do with anything?” she said, looking between Aloth and Edér.

“Well, you know…” Edér said uneasily, rubbing his neck. “You said yourself your ancestors fled north to avoid the Aedyr slave trade…”

“ _And_ Old Vailain. _And_ Readceras,” she said with angry tears in her eyes. “And Dyrwood, it seems.”

“Look, I don’t mean nothing by it,” Edér said again. “It’s just, with Aedyr having so many orlan servants…”

“It never occurred to me,” Aloth said firmly, taking her hand in his.

Nya gasped and looked up at him, startled but grateful.

“Is that right…?” Edér said, rubbing the back of his head self-consciously. He was looking everywhere but at them.

“Yes,” Aloth said firmly, looking down at Nya. “I’ll admit, we’re from different worlds...” He squeezed her hand, “But you being an orlan was never a consideration, let alone a point of contention.”

She sobbed happily, joyful tears trailing down her face. She threw her arms around his waist, and he placed a hand on her shoulder, no longer caring who saw.

**Author's Note:**

> Writing flash fiction is hard. If I had it ended this on "What did I miss?" it would probably be proper flash fiction (1,000 words or less), but then that would have defeated the purpose of this story.


End file.
